


you said, “are you serious?” (i said like a heart attack)

by spiritypowers, wordswithdragons



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, POV Soren (The Dragon Prince), onesided soren/rayla tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23354983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiritypowers/pseuds/spiritypowers, https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordswithdragons/pseuds/wordswithdragons
Summary: Soren doesn't understand why Rayla is with Callum, until he does.
Relationships: Callum & Ezran & Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Ezran & Soren (The Dragon Prince), Rayla/Soren (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 242





	you said, “are you serious?” (i said like a heart attack)

**Author's Note:**

> just a concept we wanted to explore. title is from "part time lover" by relient k

Soren had always been late to the program. Late to dinner, to training sometimes, even, having overslept until Clauds came to kick his ass into gear. Taking a few seconds longer, sometimes to put the pieces together. So really, it shouldn't come as any surprise to him that he realized he liked Rayla more than he should when it was already far too late to do anything about it.

It had been six months since the final battle—six months since they’d all hightailed it back to Katolis. Callum left semi-regularly for mage training with Ibis, meeting at the halfway point near wherever Rayla lives (Soren could never remember the name of the place, honestly) and Rayla watched his brother’s back while Ezran accumulated new staff who wouldn’t accept bribes and fight wars at the urgings of a charismatic madman. She was as protective over Ezran and the boys as she was back at the Moon Nexus, and quick as a whip, too. Funny in a way Soren never thought elves could be and easily one of the best sword fighters he’s ever known.

So when he first challenged her to a sparring match, it was almost a joke, and he didn’t expect her to say yes. But Rayla did, moving from where she sat in between Callum and Ezran on a courtyard bench, sketching and munching on jelly tarts respectively, standing up with a grin.

“I thought we were already 2-0?”

“Um, the first one ended in a stalemate,” Soren huffed. “Callum came and ruined it.” 

Callum didn’t look up from his sketchbook, even if he rolled his eyes. “She probably would’ve killed you, Soren.” 

“Okay, but the one after—”

“Is an even worse example,” Rayla said. “And I held my own against what, six of you with the dragon?”

“Yeah,” said Ezran sympathetically, “you’re going down, Soren.”

Soren took out his sword, resting it over one armoured shoulder. “We’ll see about that.” 

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You really want to do this now?”

“Got nothing better to do.” 

Rayla glanced back at her boys, and Callum nodded at her. “We’re only leaving at seven. We got time for you to spar and shower.” 

Rayla grinned. “Alright, let’s get this over with them.” She flicked out her blades, holding one in each hand, and they stepped into the sparring ring. 

Callum looked up from his sketchbook and closed it this time, and Soren snorted softly to himself. This would be good. Soren didn’t wait for Rayla to attempt the first blow, either, their blades dancing, slashing and evenly matched. He knew at the very least she would be a real challenge, even when they weren’t fighting against one another for their lives—her in particular. She was resourceful and fast and clever, making up for her smaller size, and nearly equal in strength.

So Soren wasn’t sure exactly how she got the upper hand on him. Again. All he knew was that it was enough of an opening that she was able to get him off-balance with that  _ stupid  _ sweep-the-leg move that  _ wasn’t even a thing _ , but maybe it was now, because she’d just beaten him with it (technically twice). He hit the ground with a rather painful thud, even with his armour, and heard Ezran give a whoop and then a, “Sorry, Soren. You did great too!” 

Soren pushed himself up into a sitting position, finding Rayla’s hand extended towards him. 

“Tried to warn you,” Callum called over as she helped him up. Soren rolled his shoulder as Rayla let go of his hand, turning immediately to Callum, already prepared with a congratulatory hug, an arm around her waist even once they drew apart. “You were amazing.” 

A happy spark entered Rayla’s eyes. “Tell me something I don’t know,” she said, beaming as she looked at him. “Didn’t even break into a sweat. Well, barely.”

Callum’s hand slipped down to hold hers. “You wanna leave now then?” he asked and she nodded.

“What?” puffed out Soren. “No rematch?”

“Sorry Soren,” said Rayla, squeezing her boyfriend’s hand. “Date night. Maybe tomorrow?”

“Ugh, fine.” Just when things were getting interesting too. He watched them walk away, hands joined and laughing about something, as he picked up his sword and slunk his way over to Ezran, wrinkling his nose. “Date night?”

Ezran shot him a look. “Every Friday, remember? This week’s something about a moonlit picnic.” He pulled a face. “Honestly I try to know as few details as possible.” 

“Huh.” Soren turned the thought over in his head, but it didn’t yield anything other than a, “Weird.” 

He’d been the last to notice that anything had even happened between them. In fairness, all of them had been in the middle of a war, had to plan a battle in less than a day, and they’d only chosen to be super mushy in front of everyone all the time after the fact. It had clicked when he’d heard what had happened at the top of the Spire. Even he knew that you didn’t jump off a cliff for just anyone and all the handholding had been hard to miss. 

Plus, the whole primal magic thing had been pretty weird. Great that neither of them had died, but weird. Awkward little Callum who could barely hold a sword connecting to the Sky Arcanum? When had  _ that  _ happened? Nevermind the kid finally getting over his sister when it hardly mattered anymore; they still didn’t know what had happened to Claudia. 

Who knew all that could change in less than a month? And in the months since then, they’d been just as lovey-dovey. 

Even if lately it’d started to make his stomach twist in a strange way. He didn’t know what that was about. 

The dinner bell rang and Ezran scooped Bait up. “Ooh, let’s go. Barius made pasta tonight.” 

So Soren shrugged and followed. It was probably nothing important, anyway.

* * *

It was with a belly full of pasta, dessert, and a few jelly tarts (hey, he was a growing boy) that Soren left the kitchens late that night. Ezran had nodded off in his chair, so he’d waved off Corvus and Opeli and carried the kid and Bait to his room, tucking the tiny king in before doubling back for one more jelly tart. 

He hadn’t expected to hear giggles and whispers in one of the castle corridors. Soren’s brow furrowed as he followed the sound to a secluded corridor, and he immediately wished he hadn’t. As mushy as Callum and Rayla were, they’d never been much for PDA, so to find them with their lips locked as they held each other in a tight embrace was, at the very least, shocking. Unexpected.

And for some reason, really bothered him?

Soren stepped out of the corridor before they could notice him, and before that image—Callum’s arms around her waist, Rayla with one hand in his hair and the other holding his scarf—could get fully burned into his brain—if it wasn’t too late already. They’d been smiling, breathy giggles between each kiss. Something in his chest twisted. It wasn’t—wrong that someone was kissing Callum, he guessed. He’d never been thrilled about the kid’s old crush on his sister but he’d never been against it either. But  _ Rayla _ ? Kissing  _ Callum _ ? Anger burned in his throat, hot and irrational. Even if he couldn’t understand what was so different about it. Callum hadn’t changed, so it must’ve been—

Why would he care who  _ Rayla _ kissed?

He paced back out to the courtyard for some air and maybe a quick jog. Fresh air would shake off whatever this weird thing was. Because it  _ was _ weird, right? He wasn’t the only one who found Rayla and Callum being a couple kind of... uneven?

They were cute, sure, and they made each other smile, and maybe they even sorta looked okay together even if Callum still had noodles for limbs, but—the step-prince,  _ really _ ? Soren cringed as soon as he thought it. He knew the years he’d put Callum down and called him step-prince was wrong, born out of his own insecurity, but... well, Callum was easy to pick on. He was smaller and shorter, kind of a nerd, and snarky enough to justify it (Ezran had always been too sweet and with no obvious insecurities to be found).

So Rayla—fast, talented, funny, pretty Rayla—had chosen  _ Callum _ ?

She’d chosen him genuinely, too, wanting nothing to do with whatever title she might get out of it. She was too cool to care about being a princess. But apparently not too cool to choose the prince who couldn’t even hold a sword properly. It wasn’t as though there was nothing to see in Callum either—he was a good mage now, shrimpy but not too bad looking, a sweet kid overall—but somehow Soren couldn’t wrap his head around it. Rayla?  _ Really _ ?

Maybe he could figure it out tomorrow. If he cared.  _ Which he didn’t _ . Just... curious. Something to pass the time on boring guard shifts.

There had to be a reason after all, right?

* * *

Most of Soren’s duties were mandated by his position as Ezran’s top crownguard, though, which meant most days standing by the throne and watching official business take place. He hadn’t had to stand there for King Harrow, and while peace had been ushered in, they in some ways lived in much more precarious times. At the very least, Ezran had more enemies in fighting for peace. So it wasn’t uncommon, either, for Callum and Rayla to spend the day in the throne room too, Callum on one side as another advisor, Rayla weighing in with some elven perspectives but mostly there as another defense guard.

“We should probably start on this week’s messages,” said Ezran when he hopped onto his throne, picking up Bait once he was settled, so they did.

The crow master was a stern faced man who was barely there, but it seemed Opeli had finally grown patient enough with the crow lord to let him read out the messages properly. It was the usual stuff, Soren found: trade agreements between the Pentarchy, burgeoning talks with Xadia, letters from Ibis written for Queen Zubeia giving updates on her son and her land and inquiring about the trio she’d more or less adopted, and occasionally a letter from Queen Aanya or moon lady (Lujanne?). 

And then the crow lord opened up one of the scrolls, and said, “This one is addressed to Rayla of the Silvergrove.”

Rayla perked up, her ears twitching. “It is?”

The crowlord cleared his throat before reading. “Dear Rayla the Moonshadow elf, the Council of Lunar Elders is writing to inform you that your pardon, requested on your behalf of Ethari of the Silvergrove, has been denied after three months of close consideration, and—”

Soren saw Rayla go incredibly white and very still, then a flash of movement by her side—Callum striding over and ripping the scroll out of the crow lord's hands with a furious look on his face. “We’ll take this one, thanks,” he said shortly, only turning when Rayla rushed out of the room. “‘Scuse us Ez,” he said, but he didn’t wait for permission—he didn’t really need to ask, anyway—as he ran after Rayla, the door out of the throne room shutting behind them.

A long, uncomfortable silence settled in the room, before Ezran said, “We can continue with some… lighter letters, if you have any?”

“Uh, yes—” The crow lord shuffled nervously, dropping a few scrolls in their haste. “Yes of course, Your Majesty!”

Soren barely heard the rest of the letters. He’d never seen Rayla go still and shaky like that before.  _ Pardon has been denied...  _ What did that even mean? Was Rayla just here in Katolis because... she couldn’t go home? Why couldn’t she go home? She was kind of a hero, who wouldn’t welcome back a hero?

Neither Rayla nor Callum came back by the time Opeli called for a break. Soren saw Ezran safely off to the kitchens for lunch and then toddled into the nearest courtyard, not looking but—snooping, maybe?

“...shouldn’t have expected anything different,” he heard Rayla saying, her voice thick, and Soren ducked behind the nearest wall. “It’s still my fault that—”

“ _ No _ , it’s not,” Callum replied fiercely, but not unkindly. “Look, we’ll go over the Council’s heads—talk to Zubeia and see—”

“Why, so I can go home and have them hate me?”

A heavy sigh, and then Callum’s voice quieted. “It would matter to Ethari.” 

“That won’t change the fact that I’m the reason his husband is dead.”

“Rayla—”

A loud sniffle. “Just—I just want to be on my own for a bit, Callum. You should probably get a new jacket anyway,” she said meekly. “Think I soaked it through with my tears.” 

“I don’t mind,” he said. “And… If you really want to be alone right now, I can go, but I also want to make sure you’ll be okay.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said, her voice soft. “Just for a bit. I’ll come find you well before dinner, I promise.”

“Okay. I should be in the library.” There was a pause, and, if Soren heard correctly, a brief kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Rayla said. 

“We’ll figure this out,” Callum promised, before Soren heard him walk off in the opposite direction.

Soren knew he’d heard the name Ethari. Rayla’s dad, right? And someone named Runaan, although that was murkier. He knew one of the elves had been taken prisoner by Viren, but he had no idea who. They were all Moonshadows with long white hair, more or less. How was he supposed to tell them apart? Claudia and Viren had gone into the dungeons with the prisoner, not him. But maybe Callum would know more details? Soren wasn’t the most tactful but even he knew it wouldn’t be considerate to go up to Rayla now and start asking her a whole bunch of questions. And Callum wasn’t about to tell him anything, given how private it all seemed.

It was so  _ weird  _ to see her look and sound so… small. 

He probably should have gone somewhere else to think, because before he could finish another thought, Rayla was there, having turned the corner, stiffening at the sight of him. Callum’s scarf was wound around her neck, turned up to her nose.

“Hey,” Soren said, because what was he supposed to say?

“...Hey,” Rayla said, still stiff. Her eyes were rimmed with red. “How long have you been out here?”

“Um, just got out,” he said, shrugging to sell it. “They took a break from the letters so I just came out to stretch my legs, y’know. Afternoon workout. Ez is at lunch if you wanna join him.”

“Oh. Okay. Um. Maybe later.”

“Right, yeah. No problem.” A heavy pause. Soren tried not to stare at her even if there was nothing else to look at. At least not when you were having a conversation with only one person. “Is um, everything, uh, okay?”

“It’s fine,” she said a little too quickly. 

“You sure? Cause—”

“I said I’m _ fine _ , Soren!” Her voice echoed against the wall and rang out into the middle of the courtyard. 

“Okay!” he said, holding up his hands. Took a step back. He’d never seen her like this either. She’d been angry about the dragon, but that was a life or death battle situation. To see her bring such similar anger and intensity here... “Forget I ever asked,” he nearly mumbled. “I’ll see you around.” 

Rayla didn’t respond, and Soren didn’t wait for her to. He just hightailed it out of there as quick as he could. Turned out, Rayla was  _ scary _ when she was  _ mad _ . (Or sad. Or... weep-ridden?)

Whatever. At any rate, it was high time to find another place to stretch his legs. Preferably somewhere with no scary elf girls to confuse him.

* * *

Of all the places he expected to wander into, the library hadn’t been one of them. 

Fine. He was still thinking about what had happened in the throne room and the courtyard. It’d been  _ strange _ , right? It had been a couple of hours, and he’d sort of passed by them in one of the bigger hallways—the last he’d seen Rayla, she’d made a beeline down the guest wing wearing one of Callum’s jackets as well as his scarf—and he still couldn’t shake any of it from his head. 

Callum was, predictably, in the library as well, a couple of books opened in front of him. He clearly hadn’t gone back to get a jacket of his own, his little neck and noodle arms exposed.

He was always in the library, usually studying some sort of runes the sky mage Ibis had sent over. And it wasn’t against the rules for anyone else to be in the library while Callum was either, prince or no prince. So Soren really wasn’t sure why he felt like he’d been caught, somehow.

Callum looked up, blinking. “Um. Can I help you?”

It was then that Soren saw Callum wasn’t reading, but writing something. A letter? “Uh—” Soren tried to get a better look, but noodle arms were still big enough to obscure most of the pages. “Just ran into Rayla in the courtyard.” 

“Oh,” Callum said, his voice softening a little. “When?”

“A… a while ago? She… kinda yelled at me?”

Callum sighed. “It was soon after you got done with the letters for the day?” he guessed.

“All I did was ask if she was okay,” Soren huffed defensively. 

Callum smiled, although Soren couldn’t tell why. Fondness or exasperation? “I mean, when you ask Rayla a question like that, yelling is definitely one of the responses you have to prepare yourself for.” 

Soren managed a nod. “So… she wasn’t mad at me?”

“Oh no, she was mad at you, but also mad at everything else.” 

“Not at you.”

Callum’s brow furrowed. “Did… did you hear us talking back there?”

“No.”

“Soren.” 

“I just wanted to take a walk!”

Callum pinched the bridge of his nose and turned fully around in his chair to face him. “Soren,” he said reprovingly, “what did you hear?”

“Just... stuff. Rayla being sad. You being you, I guess. Are—” Soren looked at him. “Are things really that bad at her home? The Silver-whatsit?”

Callum sighed. “The situation at the Silvergrove is complicated, and mostly Rayla’s personal business. But yeah, it’s... not great.” He frowned, anger flashing in his eyes in a way Soren hadn’t seen since Callum had faced down Viren about the egg what felt like a lifetime ago, like when before he did Dark Magic in the rain. “I can’t believe they would do that to her, after everything Rayla’s done—after everything  _ she’s been through _ —” He took a breath, but his eyes were still stormy. “Elves are so fucking stubborn sometimes it makes me want to scream.” 

Soren’s eyes widened. He hardly ever heard Callum swear, had hardly ever seen him this  _ angry _ . He’d always been this clumsy but sweet kid. And in spite of how much Soren had picked on him over the years, Callum had never snapped.

“What’s gonna happen when… when she can go home?”

“We’re still trying to get there,” Callum said tiredly. “Her dad, Ethari, is trying, but the Council is being difficult. They... they don’t want to reverse her banishment because they’re still saying she... that she got the rest of her troupe killed.”

Soren blinked. “But her actions helped bring Zym, how could—”

“That’s not what they’re angry about. Or at least, that’s not what they’re saying.” Callum pursed his lips. “You know Marcos, right?”

Unsure of how it connected, Soren nodded. “Yeah. ‘Course.” Marcos was a fellow crownguard, a bit slow on his feet but dedicated and brave. They’d eaten dinner together a few times and he’d been one of the few to throw down his weapon and bear being seen as a broken link. He’d fought at the Battle of the Spire, too, and returned to Katolis with the rest of them.

“He discovered the Moonshadow elves the night before the assassination,” he said. “Rayla was sent after him when he ran away. She was supposed to kill him or they’d lose the element of surprise. I don’t think I have to say what happened instead.”

“She... lost him?” Soren said slowly. It sounded odd because Rayla was usually so fast, but he guessed if a dark rainy night could work against a human, it could also work against an elf.

Callum shook his head. “She spared him.”

“...Oh.”

“No matter what we say, they always say the same thing: that she chose humans over her own kind. It’s such bullshit. Especially when the only reason she didn’t die like the rest of them is because she chose another path, but she gets punished for it anyway?” He let out a huff. “Don’t bring any of this up with her,” he said, his voice softer. “She’s been dealing with enough, and… she doesn’t deserve this. Not her.”

“I won’t,” Soren said quietly. “I’ll leave the feelings-y stuff to you, promise.”

A smile flickered on Callum’s face before vanishing again. “Thanks,” he said quietly.

Soren awkwardly patted the sides of his legs, unsure of how to leave the conversation even if it was clearly over. “Well, uh, I hope everything works out.”

“Yeah. Me too.” Callum managed a small smile. “Thanks for listening, Soren.”

“Oh. Um, yeah. No prob.” 

Soren breathed once he left the library, glad he hadn’t messed it up—who knew he could have real  _ tact _ ?—but his mind no less troubled. It was always strange sometimes to see just how much Ez and Callum had changed when he’d known them all his life, always known more or less what to expect, and then to have everything flip upside down in a matter of months. And to realize that he didn’t know Rayla  _ nearly _ as well as he thought, really. Not nearly as well as Callum. 

Why would he? Soren had basically just gotten to know Rayla as, like, an actual person, and not just a really fast and pretty opponent. Callum had gotten to spend this entire time getting to know her, travelling with her, befriending her. Clearly, he’d helped Rayla through some tough times before, and she’d likely helped him. The two of them had been through things that Soren could never understand. 

Maybe it wasn’t so strange she’d pick someone like Callum after all. 

Why did that knowledge sting even more? ...Wait.

_ No way. _

Could he like Rayla... too?

* * *

At the very least, Soren didn’t think that  _ he _ wanted to be the one kissing Rayla. She was cute and fun, sure, but he didn’t like her that much. It was a teeny tiny crush, enough to poke him in the side like a small thorn, but not enough for him to like,  _ pine _ . Right?

Something in his gut twisted when he saw her with Callum as they came down to breakfast together, smiling softly and holding hands. Rayla looked considerably cheered, which was a good thing, but Soren knew he was not the cause of it whatsoever. They had a breakfast of berries and pancakes (not too fluffy, fortunately and a little sadly), and he tried not to look at them while they chatted with the others at the breakfast table. Rayla was still a bit quiet, but nobody mentioned it so he didn’t either.

Soren didn’t think he would know what to say.

He was crushing on a girl he was friends with who already had a boyfriend, who was  _ also  _ one of his friends. What was there to say? He wasn’t about to break them up, so there was no point in telling either of them how he felt. That would just be awkward. And Rayla wouldn’t just leave Callum. (Would she? No.  _ No _ .) 

He pushed aside his pancakes. Maybe another morning jog would clear his head.

Besides, he didn’t really like pancakes anymore.

* * *

Talking to Callum and Rayla may not have been an option, but Soren did know there was someone who could maybe answer some of his questions. It wasn’t uncommon for him and Ez and Bait to eat lunch just the three of them, on a more set schedule than anyone else in the castle. Sometimes Corvus joined (Opeli usually ate alone) or Callum and Rayla, but people drifted in and out of the kitchen more or less as they desired, Barius friendly and accomodating, and the young couple hadn’t stayed for more messages from the crow lord that morning, either.

“So,” said Soren around a bite of his ham and cheese sub, “when did that whole thing start anyway?” He’d never asked, after all.

Ezran paused and Bait stole the jelly tart in the king’s hand. “Whole thing?”

“Y’know. Rayla. Callum. Being mushy together.” 

“Oh. Um… I don’t really know.”

“You don’t?”   


“They were already together when I joined them again. I think they said it was a thing a few days before I came back, but I don’t know.”

“Oh. So… you didn’t see it coming?”

“Well, I did,” Ezran considered. “But I kinda thought they would take longer to actually get together, honestly.” He went a bit deadpan. “Do you know what it was like travelling with them when Zym was just an egg? Callum forgot the food we needed to live because he and Rayla were fighting and distracting each other.” 

Soren almost spit out his drink. “Wait, what?”

“It was so weird. It was like they wanted to fight? I think they just liked riling each other up.” Ezran wrinkled his nose. “It’s a little gross, but… They’re good together, and happy. So we tolerate it.” He rubbed Bait’s head. “Don’t we, Bait?” The glow toad let out a low rumble in response. “Yeah. We’ve never seen Callum be this happy before, and it makes stuff after the Moon Nexus make more sense.”

“Sense?”

“Rayla was being pretty mushy with him. I thought she was just being kind—and to a certain degree, that’s just what it was, but—it’s pretty obvious looking back that it also meant she liked him. Was falling in love with him? That’s what she says anyway. We talked about it a bit, once her and I got more of a chance to catch up.” 

“Oh. So… she liked him first?”

“I think she realized it first. Maybe even before the Moon Nexus.”

Before the sort of date with Claudia then. Soren filed the information away best he could. “Huh.”

“I think he started to realize when she went after the dragon. He was pretty upset until he followed her and... you know what happened there.”

Soren’s spine tingled. “Yeah.”

Ezran hastily cleared his throat. “She was really mad at him for using Dark Magic, but they worked through it I guess, by the time I decided to leave for Katolis. They went through a lot of different things in Xadia. I’m just glad they had each other. I don’t think any of us would be alive without each other, either.”

“Well, the Pinnacle, right?” Soren remembered weakly.

“Yeah. They’ve saved each other a whole lot.” Ezran turned thoughtful, letting a silence stretch. “I don’t think Rayla was used to having someone to rely on like that until she met Callum.”

“It’s weird,” said Soren, “I don’t really think of Callum as being tough.” 

“Maybe not tough, but he’s strong. And selfless, and stupid. He tried to protect me from Rayla when we first met, like that was gonna work.” Ezran grinned. “They’re pretty evenly matched now, when they spar, so long as Callum’s allowed to use magic.” 

“Oh. Huh.”

“Yeah,” said Ez, seemingly sympathetic with the slightly confused look on his face. “It threw me for a loop, too. I didn’t even realize they liked each other like that, and then when I get back, they’re kissing! I was only gone for like, a week and a half.” 

“Do they… do that a lot?”

“Yeah. It’s kind of gross, but they also make each other happy, so.” Ezran shrugged. “Callum used to say that Mom and Dad were kinda like that, so it’s okay that him and Rayla are, too, when I made a face. I guess this just means Rayla will really be my sister one day.” 

“Wow. That’s… They’re really young,” he said, but even as he said it, he could still more easily see them growing together. Callum had literally jumped off a cliff for her. Soren didn’t know much about love, but he knew that people didn’t do that for just anyone. 

Ezran smiled a little mischievously. “I mean I don’t think they’ve  _ talked _ about it, but I plan on getting my money’s worth out of teasing ‘em while I still can. In another year I bet Callum will just go dopey-eyed and smiley when I bring it up.” 

“Yeah,” Soren said, but he couldn’t quite manage a smile. Callum had really compared them to the King and Queen. Soren remembered them, a little. How they were almost always holding hands or sneaking kisses even in front of the kids. None of them had really minded; sometimes Callum had made faces, being that young, but hadn’t seemed bothered by it. And Soren and Claudia… After their mom had left, it had both been nice and stung a bit to see that two grownups could still love each other so much. 

“Why the interest, anyway?” Ezran asked. “I didn’t think you were into mushy stuff.” 

Soren cleared his throat. “Oh, you know,” he waved his hand distractedly, “just curious. They’re kind of an odd couple, in some ways. An elf. A human. Really badass, kind of dorky.” 

“Rayla can be dorky too,” Ezran said. “You’ve never seen her human impression. And Rayla wouldn’t trust Callum to save her if he wasn’t a badass too.” 

Soren winced. “Oh, he’s gonna give me a piece of his mind for teaching you that word, isn’t he?”

Ezran pouted. “I already knew it, I just  _ chose _ not to say it until now. But yeah, maybe don’t tell him, or he’ll give me an earful too.” Ezran lowered his voice. “I haven’t been able to break it to him yet that for a toad, Bait is an extreme potty-mouth.” 

An affronted gasp, as Soren placed a hand on his chest, secretly glad for the way out of the current conversation. “The scandal.”

Ezran nodded seriously. “I’ve learned most of my bad language from him,” he said, and he and Soren both burst into laughter as Bait let out a low croak. “Shush Bait, you’re just proving my point.”

“So,” said Soren, “if Bait’s a potty-mouth, where did he learn it from?”

Ezran’s eyes twinkled. “Can’t animals keep some of their secrets?”

“I dunno,” he drawled. “It sounds like there’s a story there.”

“Alright, alright. But you can’t tell Callum.”

Soren thought he was getting rather good at keeping secrets these days. He mirrored his words as he said, “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“Okay then,” said Ezran, sitting back in his chair. “So, it started like this—”

* * *

The next time Soren stepped out into the courtyard, Callum and Rayla were sparring instead. Soren supposed it had been a few days since he’d interacted with either of them properly, and perhaps Rayla had gotten tired waiting for her usual sparring partner. She didn’t look like she had missed him; she and Callum were grinning at each other, one of her curved blades in his hand. 

“Come on,” she coaxed. “You remember what I’ve taught you.” 

“Yeah, but my teacher keeps distracting me.”

Rayla smirked, half exasperated and half fond. “Flirting is not going to help you win.”

“Well you took away my advantage with magic, so—”

“Yes, because your aspiro is strong enough now to make any fight basically over, so—”

Callum lowered his blade slightly, gesturing. “Not true, if you can sneak around it and—whoa!”

Rayla had dodged forwards before he could blink, twisting her blade out of his hand and using the other to sweep his legs out from under him. Both blades twirled and had one tucked under her vest before she caught him with her now free arm, holding him in a sort of a dip. Her other hand kept the remaining blade just under his chin, but held against his scarf.

“I thought I taught you,” she teased, eyes glinting, “not to let me distract you.” 

There was something in the way that they looked at one another that made Soren want to look away. He glanced away, focusing instead on a crack in one of the bricks—huh, the crack kinda looked like one of the borders—and he regretted taking another glance back when he saw them kissing again, the blade she’d had under his chin now lowered by her side. They pulled away though—this must’ve been a brief one—and Rayla handed him back the second blade. 

“C’mon,” she said. “Let’s try this again.” 

Callum grinned a bit sheepishly. “Can you show me the maneuver again first?”

Rayla rolled her eyes, but then guided him through it, a careful twist of the blade that was a more advanced move. Him and Soren had never really gotten past most of the basics, but it seemed Rayla was a better teacher than him—or at least, a better teacher for Callum. Soren guessed he had always assumed how he’d learned would work for the prince; why bother with any other tactic? But he could hear the way Rayla translated the directions over, relating it to artwork and strokes of a pen—and yeah, it really did make sense, when put that way. 

Callum seemed more solid and sure as he followed her steps, his face lighting up when he got something right. Still a little clumsily, but right, just needing a bit of practice. He really had grown up—or maybe he hadn’t been that bad to begin with.

Rayla smiled at him, wide and soft, and it struck Soren that maybe, when you fell in love with someone, you didn’t love them for what they could do, or even how they handled things... but just for who they  _ were _ . Their essence, or energy, or whatever. 

His throat tightened, and he continued on his walk. Maybe it made perfect sense that Rayla had fallen for Callum after all. 

* * *

Three weeks later, a short, cute fellow crownguard asked Soren out, and he stumbled through a yes. He hadn’t been on a date in a while, and maybe tentative peace was the perfect time to get back out there. Even if it struck him multiple times that Claudia wasn’t there to tease him or ask him what he was going to wear on his date.

Eventually, he caved and went to Callum. “I dunno what tie to wear,” he mumbled, holding up the options, blue and black.

And because he went to Callum, that naturally meant Rayla, and even Ezran by extension, were all curled up by his side in one of the biggest armchairs by the castle’s sort of fireplace lounge room. Bait was eating jelly tarts in Ez’s lap, and Callum and Rayla had an arm around each other while the prince sketched something, Rayla having been idly watching; it seemed like a relaxing activity for both of them. 

“Blue,” Callum answered with only a brief glance up. “Matches your eyes.” 

Soren held the tie to his neck, his brow furrowing. “Really?”

“Don’t look at me,” said Ezran. “Opeli helps me get dressed for my formal events.”

“Yeah,” said Rayla, poking her boyfriend in the side with her finger, “listen to Mister Colour Theory over here.” 

“Hm.” Soren looked back down at the ties. “Blue it is.” 

“When’s your date?” she asked.

“Tomorrow. It was supposed to be casual, but… it’s been awhile, so.”

“I’m sure you’ll knock them off their feet,” said Rayla, and he couldn’t quite tell whether she was being sarcastic or genuine or both. “Y’know, with your charm, and personality.” 

It made Soren stand up straighter all the same. With no butterflies. “Are you… being serious?”

“For once, yes.”

“Don’t worry Soren,” said Callum. “You’ll be fine.”

“Yeah!” said Ezran. “You’ll do great! And they asked you out right, so you already know they’re interested.” 

Soren perked up. “Right! Alright, yeah, let’s do this! Blue tie it is.” 

“Soren,” Callum said before he could leave, “do you know how to put on a tie?”

“Uh...” 

“Here.” Callum pushed himself up with a sigh and took the tie, demonstrating the loops. “Like this, okay?”

Soren meandered his way through the motions. His tie wasn’t as nice or quickly made as Callum’s, but it definitely looked passable. “How d’you know anyway?”

“He has to get dressed up for events sometimes,” Ezran piped up.

“And he looks very handsome,” Rayla added. Soren watched Callum’s face soften before he leaned back to give his girlfriend a brief kiss.

“Thank you.” 

Ezran raised his eyebrows over at Soren, like  _ See? Gross _ . 

And it was a little, yeah, Soren thought, pocketing his tie as he went to leave. But it was also pretty sweet.


End file.
